Allowances take effect on the earliest date an employee is required to wear the uniform following completion of the 90–day probationary period. This date is known as the employee’s anniversary date.
When employees who have been receiving allowances in one uniformed category transfer or are reappointed to a different uniformed category within the allowance year, they start a new anniversary date, provided they are eligible in the new category on the date of assignment (see 935.251).
Employees temporarily assigned to light duty assignments, OWCP absences, extended sick leave, or higher level detail for a period of 89 days or more that does not require wearing a uniform have their uniform allowance suspended for the time they are on this assignment. When such is the case, the following provisions apply:
- A request for a personnel action to terminate the uniform allowance is submitted to the personnel office. The personnel office generates PS Form 50, Notification of Personnel Action, using Nature of Action (NOA) 903, Uniform Certification/Disallowance, to document the termination of allowance. (See Handbook EL–301, Guidelines for Processing Personnel Actions, for PS Form 50 processing instructions.)
- Invoices showing purchase dates during the time an employee is in a nonuniform category may not be accepted for payment.
- If the detail is terminated in less than a year after the last anniversary date, the allowance is redetermined by the postmaster as described in 935.23, and the employee retains the former anniversary date.
A statement is inserted on the PS Form 50, NOA 903, Uniform Certification/
Disallowance, that the uniform allowance is suspended for the period of the detail. When the detail is terminated and the employee is reassigned to a position that makes him or her again eligible for a uniform allowance, if the employee’s eligibility has been suspended for one year or more, a new PS Form 50, NOA 903, establishing the employee’s eligibility is prepared. If the suspension is for less than a year, a PS Form 8006, Uniform Allowance Code Sheet (For Regular, Contract, or Work Clothes Program), must be completed and submitted to the St. Louis ASC.
Employees on LWOP in excess of a year, or absent on military duty in excess of a year, who were eligible for uniform allowances immediately prior to their absence receive a new anniversary date for uniform allowances directly on return to a duty and pay status in a uniformed category. Other employees separated from a uniform category for periods in excess of 1 year are regarded as new employees and, therefore, entitled to the first–year allowances when reassigned to a uniform category.
An employee on LWOP, OWCP absence, extended sick leave, higher level detail, or military LWOP not in excess of 89 calendar days during a year of eligibility receives full allowance if otherwise eligible. If such leave exceeds 89 calendar days (not necessarily consecutive, but accumulative) during any uniform allowance year, the maximum allowance is reduced 10 percent for the 90 calendar days of LWOP and 10 percent for each full 30 calendar days of accumulative leave beyond the 90–day period. Recovery of earlier grants of allowance is not required, however, in achieving this reduction.
Eligible employees who are separated from a uniformed category and are later reappointed to a position in the same category within 1 year of their last anniversary date have their allowance redetermined as outlined in 935.23 and retain the former anniversary date.
An employee who has been receiving an annual allowance and later transfers to another uniformed category receives the allowance for newly eligible employees in that category. Any balance of the previous annual allowance is liquidated by the St. Louis ASC, and a new card is issued with the new allowance.
An employee who transfers or separates from a uniformed category for a period exceeding 1 year and later returns to duty in a uniformed category is regarded as a newly eligible employee. The employee receives the increased first–year allowance.
When an employee’s eligibility for a uniform allowance is uncertain, the installation head makes the decision. An employee is to be notified as soon as possible when his uniform status has changed.
A change in assignment or eligibility that requires no other type of concurrent personnel action, but that changes eligibility for the uniform allowance, is recorded on PS Form 50 using NOA 902, Uniform Certification/Disallowance. The form indicates the employee has either become or is no longer eligible for the uniform allowance. The postmaster notifies the personnel office whether the employee is newly eligible for a uniform allowance and is entitled to the additional first–year allowance (see 935.25). The personnel office generates a PS Form 50 notifying the employee of his or her eligibility for the uniform allowance. A Form 8006 must be completed and submitted to the St. Louis ASC.
